The growth and nutrient uptake of winter wheat

Summary Measurements with an ion selective electrode under winter wheat and in adjacent fallow soil, from April to July 1976, showed that nitrate concentrations were high in the 0–25 cm zone and correspondingly lower at 50 cm, because of the extreme drying conditions. Maximum differences in nitrate concentrations between cropped and fallow soil occurred at Feekes' stages 6, 10, and 11.1 indicating periods of maximum uptake by the crop (cf Ref.⁴).Dry matter weight of wheat, sampled biweekly, was maximum 15 days before maturity. The foliage senesced and lost weight from Feekes' stage 10.1 onwards. Nutrient concentrations in the foliage decreased from Feekes' stage 4, but N, P and Mg concentrations in the ears increased during Feekes' stage 11. N, P and Mg accumulated in the ears at the expense of the foliage during stage 11, maximum uptake occurring at stages 11.3, 11.1 and 11.2 respectively. In contrast, K and Ca uptake ceased at stages 10.1 and 10.5 respectively and then both were lost from the foliage in heavy showers.Rates of N uptake and soil nitrate depletion correlated significantly, enabling N uptake to be deduced approximately from thesein situ soil nitrate measurements.     

Root growth and water uptake in winter wheat under deficit irrigation

Root growth is critical for crops to use soil water under water-limited conditions. A field study was conducted to investigate the effect of available soil water on root and shoot growth, and root water uptake in winter wheat (Triticum aestivum L.) under deficit irrigation in a semi-arid environment. Treatments consisted of rainfed, deficit irrigation at different developmental stages, and adequate irrigation. The rainfed plots had the lowest shoot dry weight because available soil water decreased rapidly from booting to late grain filling. For the deficit-irrigation treatments, crops that received irrigation at jointing and booting had higher shoot dry weight than those that received irrigation at anthesis and middle grain filling. Rapid root growth occurred in both rainfed and irrigated crops from floral initiation to anthesis, and maximum rooting depth occurred by booting. Root length density and dry weight decreased after anthesis. From floral initiation to booting, root length density and growth rate were higher in rainfed than in irrigated crops. However, root length density and growth rate were lower in rainfed than in irrigated crops from booting to anthesis. As a result, the difference in root length density between rainfed and irrigated treatments was small during grain filling. The root growth and water use below 1.4 m were limited by a caliche (45% CaCO₃) layer at about 1.4 m profile. The mean water uptake rate decreased as available soil water decreased. During grain filling, root water uptake was higher from the irrigated crops than from the rainfed. Irrigation from jointing to anthesis increased seasonal evapotranspiration, grain yield, harvest index and water-use efficiency based on yield (WUE), but did not affect water-use efficiency based on aboveground biomass. There was no significant difference in WUE among irrigation treatments except one-irrigation at middle grain filling. Due to a relatively deep root system in rainfed crops, the higher grain yield and WUE in irrigated crops compared to rainfed crops was not a result of rooting depth or root length density, but increased harvest index, and higher water uptake rate during grain filling.     

Interactive effects of soil temperature, atmospheric carbon dioxide and soil N on root development, biomass and nutrient uptake of winter wheat during vegetative growth

Nutrient requirements for plant growth are expected to rise in response to the predicted changes in CO(2) and temperature. In this context, little attention has been paid to the effects of soil temperature, which limits plant growth at early stages in temperate regions. A factorial growth-room experiment was conducted with winter wheat, varying soil temperature (10 degrees C and 15 degrees C), atmospheric CO(2) concentration (360 and 700 ppm), and N supply (low and high). The hypothesis was that soil temperature would modify root development, biomass allocation and nutrient uptake during vegetative growth and that its effects would interact with atmospheric CO(2) and N availability. Soil temperature effects were confirmed for most of the variables measured and 3-factor interactions were observed for root development, plant biomass components, N-use efficiency, and shoot P content. Importantly, the soil temperature effects were manifest in the absence of any change in air temperature. Changes in root development, nutrient uptake and nutrient-use efficiencies were interpreted as counterbalancing mechanisms for meeting nutrient requirements for plant growth in each situation. Most variables responded to an increase in resource availability in the order: N supply >soil temperature >CO(2).     

The effect of rhizoctonia root disease and applied nitrogen on growth,nitrogen uptake and nutrient concentrations in spring wheat

Root disease caused by Rhizoctonia solani is a common problem of spring wheat in South Australia. There are reports that nitrogen applications can reduce the incidence and severity of the disease. A glasshouse trail in pots examined the effects of disease and of applied nitrogen on wheat growth, and evaluated the utility of the basal stem nitrate concentration in diagnosing deficiency in plants with and without root disease. Plants were harvested at the mid-tillering stage. Shoot growth was increased by applied nitrogen until a maximum yield was attained, after which additional N had no effect on shoot yield. Root growth, however, responded positively only to low levels of applied N, after which it declined, and in the highest N treatment root mass was less than in the plants without applied N. Root disease caused severe reductions in plant growth, and both root and shoot mass were affected similarly. Even though growth of diseased plants responded positively to applied nitrogen the response was less than that of disease-free plants. The critical concentration of basal stem nitrate-N did not appear to be affected by root disease, and was estimated at 1200 mg kg^-1, consistent with other glasshouse data. The basal stem nitrate-N concentration, either in fresh or dried tissue, appeared a better diagnostic tool of N stress than did total shoot N concentration or content, because of sharper definition of critical concentrations. Concentrations of other nutrients in shoot tissue were affected differentially by both applied nitrogen and root disease, but generally did not reach critical levels, although phosphorus and magnesium appeared deficient in very disease-stressed plants.     

Photosynthesis and yield responses of ozone-polluted winter wheat to drought

Winter wheat (Triticum aestivum L. cv. Jingdong 8) was exposed to short-term high ozone treatment after anthesis and then was either well irrigated with soil water content (SWC) of 80–85 % (O₃+W) or drought treated (SWC 35–40 %, O₃+D). Short-term ozone exposure significantly decreased irradiance-saturated net photosynthetic rate (P _N) of winter wheat. Under good SWC, P _N of the O₃-treated plant was similar to that of control on 2 d after O₃-exposure (6 DAA), but decreased significantly after 13 DAA, indicating that O₃ exposure accelerated leaf senescence. Meanwhile, green flag leaf area was reduced faster than that of control. As a result, grain yield of O₃+W was significantly decreased. P _N of O₃+D was further notably decreased and green flag leaf area was reduced more than that in O₃+W. Consequently, substantial yield loss of O₃+D was observed compared to that of O₃+W. Although P _N was significantly positively correlated with stomatal conductance, it also had notable positive correlation with the maximum photochemical efficiency in the dark adapted leaves (F_v/F_m), electron transport rate (ETR), photochemical quenching (q_P), as well as content of chlorophyll, suggesting that the depression of P _N was mainly caused by non-stomatal limitation. Hence optimal soil water condition should be considered in order to reduce the yield loss caused by O₃ pollution.     

Effects of eyespot on the yield of winter wheat

In two experiments, on Julia and Zephyr spring barley, evidence was obtained that the development of powdery mildew in sprayed plots depended very much on their proximity to unsprayed crop. The effective period of control achieved with one spray was greater where plots were well separated from unsprayed crop than where they were surrounded by or very close to unsprayed crop. There is probably a risk that small plot experiments may not only underestimate the potential effectiveness of fungicides in agricultural practice, but also give misleading information on optimal spray timing.     

秸秆还田条件下灌水模式对冬小麦产量和水肥利用效率的影响

于2008-2010年,在山西省临汾市尧都区半干旱、半湿润季风气候区,通过大田试验研究了玉米秸秆连续还田条件下灌水模式对冬小麦籽粒产量、干物质转移及水肥利用效率的影响.结果表明:浇越冬水可促进小麦分蘖;浇拔节水可提高分蘖成穗率,增加成穗数;浇孕穗水可促进穗部干物质积累,提高千粒重.浇2水时,推迟第2次浇水时期使叶片干物质转移量和穗粒数增加;浇2水比浇l水的肥料表观利用率高,可促进穗部干物质积累.越冬水灌水量和总灌水量对分蘖、穗部干物质积累的影响较小;拔节期或孕穗期增加灌水量则更有利于养分吸收及干物质积累与转移,提高籽粒水分利用效率,产量构成因素协调,增产效果明显.因此,确保越冬水可实现稳产,在越冬水基础上,拔节期增量灌水(900 m3·hm-2)可满足冬小麦中后期生长发育的需要,提高籽粒水分利用效率,实现节水高产栽培.     

Efficient strategies to assess yield stability in winter wheat

Key message

Selecting contrasting environments allows decreasing phenotyping intensity but still maintaining high accuracy to assess yield stability.

Abstract

Improving yield stability of wheat varieties is important to cope with enhanced abiotic stresses caused by climate change. The objective of our study was to (1) develop and implement an improved heritability estimate to examine the required scale of phenotyping for assessing yield stability in wheat, (2) compare yield performance and yield stability of wheat hybrids and inbred lines, (3) investigate the association of agronomic traits with yield stability, and (4) explore the possibility of selecting subsets of environments allowing to portray large proportion of the variation of yield stability. Our study is based on phenotypic data from five series of official winter wheat registration trials in Germany each including 119–132 genotypes evaluated in up to 50 environments. Our findings suggested that phenotyping in at least 40 environments is required to reliably estimate yield stability to guarantee heritability estimates above 0.7. Contrasting the yield stability of hybrids versus lines revealed no significant differences. Absence of stable associations between yield stability and further agronomic traits suggested low potential of indirect selection to improve yield stability. Selecting posteriori contrasting environments based on the genotype-by-environment interaction effects allowed decreasing phenotyping intensity, but still maintaining high accuracy to assess yield stability. The huge potential of the developed strategy to select contrasting and informative environments has to be validated as a next step in an a priori scenario based on genotype-by-location interaction effects.

     

Effects of herbicide chlorsulfuron on growth and nutrient uptake parameters of wheat genotypes differing in Zn-efficiency

Prunings of Calliandra calothyrsus, Grevillea robusta, Leucaena diversifolia and farm yard manure were applied each cropping season at 3 and 6 t dry matter ha⁻¹ to an Oxisol in Burundi. The field plots also received basal applications of nitrogen (N), phosphorus (P) and potassium (K). Application of the tree prunings or farm yard manure decreased the concentration of monomeric inorganic aluminium (Al) in soil solution from 2.92 mg Al dm⁻³ in the control plots to 0.75 mg Al dm⁻³ in the plots receiving 6 t ha⁻¹ Calliandra prunings. The other organic materials also decreased the concentration of monomeric inorganic aluminium in the soil solution. The lowered Al concentration led to a corresponding decrease in the percentage Al saturation of the 0–10 cm soil layer from 80% to 68%. Grain yields of maize and beans were strongly inversely related to the percentage Al saturation of the soil. This confirms that soil acidity was the main constraint to maize and beans production. The yield improvement was mainly attributed to the ameliorating effects of the organic matter application on Al toxicity. The nutrient content had less effect presumably because of fertilizer use. In the best treatments, the yield of maize increased from 0.9 to 2.2 t ha⁻¹ and the corresponding beans yield increased from 0.2 to 1.2 t ha⁻¹. A C Borstlap Section editor     

冬小麦生长季不同灌溉模式对冬小麦-夏玉米产量与水分利用的影响

在华北平原黑龙港流域对冬小麦实行3种灌溉模式,研究了不同灌溉模式对冬小麦-夏玉米产量、耗水特性和水分利用效率的影响.结果表明:浇底墒水+拔节水处理(W2,75 mm+90 mm)和浇底墒水+拔节水+灌浆水处理(W3,75 mm+90 mm+60 mm)周年总产量均显著高于只浇底墒水处理(W1,75 mm),增幅分别为8.7%和12.5%.冬小麦全生育期对土壤水的消耗随灌溉量的增加而减少,夏玉米季总耗水量随冬小麦季灌溉量的增加而增加.W2处理冬小麦水分利用效率(WUE)比W3处理高11.1%,而其夏玉米水分利用效率(WUE)与W3处理差异不显著.W2和W1处理的周年水分利用效率(WUET)分别为21.28和21.60 kg.mm-1.hm-2,比W3处理分别高7.8%和9.4%.综合周年产量、耗水量和水分利用效率,W2是较好的节水丰产灌溉模式.     

Effects of water shortage on the yield of winter wheat

The effects of water shortage on the yield of winter wheat (cv. Maris Huntsman) were investigated in covered field plots on silt-loam soil. Plants were subjected to drought at different stages of growth, but none of the treatments significantly decreased yield. Some treatments decreased the number of ears per unit area, and number of grains per ear, but these effects were offset by increases in individual grain weight. We estimate that the soil water deficit (151 mm) in the treatment which had the largest effect on yield, albeit non-significant, would be expected in nature about 15 years in 100 or less. Drought also had little effect on plant water potential and stomatal conductance. The lack of effect of drought on plant water status and yield may be attributable to the large available water content of the silt loam and the deep rooting of winter wheat. On this type of soil, therefore, water shortage appears not to be an important cause of variation in the yield of winter wheat.     

Effect of irrigation frequency and nitrogen on groundnut yield and nutrient uptake

Summary Field experiments were conducted during 1979 and 1980 summer seasons on sandy loam soils of low moisture retentive capacity to study the effect of high frequency irrigation at different levels of N on groundnut yield and nutrient uptake (NPK). Four irrigation frequencies (irrigation at 2, 4, 6 and 8 cm cumulative can evaporation, corresponding to irrigation once in 3, 5, 7 and 10 days respectively) and four levels of nitrogen (0, 20, 40 and 60 kg N/ha) were tested in a factorial randomized block design with three replications. Pod yield of groundnut was maximum (3,293 kg/ha) when irrigations were scheduled at 4 cm cumulative can evaporation (once in 5 days). Addition of N did not increase the pod yield. N and P uptake by the crop was maximum (180 kg N and 18 kg P/ha) with high frequency irrigation of scheduling irrigation at 4 cm cumulative can evaporation. Highest uptake of N (183 kg/ha) and P (19 kg/ha) was with a combination of 20 kg N/ha and high frequency irrigation (4 cm CCE). K uptake was low with low irrigation frequency, while it was highest (67 kg K/ha) at 20 kg N/ha.     

Root length density and water uptake distributions of winter wheat under sub-irrigation

As the critical information to study flow transport in soil–plant systems, root distributions and root-water-uptake (RWU) patterns have been studied extensively. However, most root distribution data in the past were collected under surface irrigation. Less research has been conducted to characterize root distributions under sub-irrigation. The objectives of this study were to (1) test if the generalized function of normalized root length density (NRLD) in the literature was applicable to root distributions of winter wheat under natural sub-irrigation, which provides water from subsurface by capillary rise from the water table, and (2) estimate RWU distributions of winter wheat under natural sub-irrigation. Column experiments were conducted to study the distributions of root length density (RLD) and RWU of winter wheat (Triticum aestivum L. cv. Nongda 189) during a growing period of 57 days from planting to tillering stages under surface irrigation and natural sub-irrigation. Data of root distributions and soil water content were collected in the experiments with different treatments of irrigation levels. Results showed that the RLD distributions of winter wheat under both surface irrigation and natural sub-irrigation were of similar patterns. The NRLD distributions under sub-irrigation were adequately characterized by the generalized function. An inverse method was employed to estimate the average RWU rate distributions of winter wheat. In addition, based on the potential RWU coefficient and the NRLD function, a simple approach was developed to predict RWU rates at different depths. The predicted RWU rates had a good agreement with the estimated RWU rate distributions using the inverse method.Section editor: R. E. Munns     

The effect of thidiazuron on the yield of wheat grown with varying nutrient supply

The effect of the synthetic cytokinin thidiazuron on the yield of wheat growing under conditions of varying nutrient supply was investigated. Applications of thidiazuron during the early growth stages of wheat promoted tillering but reduced yield. Applications of thidiazuron during flag leaf senescence had little effect on yield. However, the yield of plants was increased at all levels of nutrient supply by treating plants with paclobutrazol during the early growth stages followed by thidiazuron during flag leaf senescence. Yield increases were greatest in moderately nutrient stressed plants, but were accompanied by a reduction in the N concentration of the grain. Possible reasons for the interaction between thidiazuron and paclobutrazol in increasing the yield of wheat are discussed.     

开放式增温下非对称性增温对冬小麦生长特征及产量构成的影响

在江苏南京(2007-2009年)设置了全天增温(AW)、白天增温(DW)和夜间增温(NW)3种处理,研究冬小麦生长及产量构成的响应差异.结果表明:非对称性增温条件下,冬小麦的无效分蘖减少,有效分蘖增加.对照(CK)处理的无效分蘖分别是AW、DW和NW处理的2.6、1.7和3.5倍,但有效分蘖却比3个增温处理分别减少13.7%、3.2%和0.5%.AW、DW和NW处理小麦株高分别较CK提高了5.6%、4.5%和1.3%.旗叶面积分别提高了45.7%、39.4%和26.1%,开花期总绿叶面积分别提高了25.1%、29.8%和17.3%,同期绿叶比分别提高了37.7%、43.3%和38.7%.穗部性状中,AW、DW和NW处理的每穗颖花数平均比CK提高了4.1%、5.7%和1.7%,每穗实粒数分别提高了2.2%、5.3%和2.6%.AW、DW和NW处理冬小麦的粒叶比平均分别较CK降低了15.3%、8.5%和11.3%,但千粒重平均分别提高了6.9%、6.2%和11.8%,单位面积产量平均分别提高了27.0%、40.1%和18.3%.表明预期增温条件下华东地区冬小麦生产力将可能进一步提高.     

Traits associated with winter wheat grain yield in Central and West Asia

Improved adaptation of winter wheat(Triticum aestivum L.) to drought and heat may be influenced by days to heading, plant height, biomass, canopy temperature(CT) at grain filling, and rate of senescence. This study shows that,under supplemental irrigation or rainfed conditions, days to heading and plant height together explain up to 68% of grain yield(GY) variation, and these associations were further confirmed in several locations across West and Central Asia.Days to heading can be slightly reduced below that of check line Karahan to further improve GY while avoiding the effect of late frosts. Plant height has been decreased in recent germplasm, but further reductions below that of check line Karahan could still improve GY in a wide range of environments. However, in Iranian sites, taller genotypes showed better adaptation with higher biomass and increased reservesfor grain filling. Canopy temperature and rate senescence were not associated with GY. A normalized difference vegetation index, used to estimate biomass(Feekes stages 4–5), had intermediate heritability across environments and correlated positively with GY under low plant density and should be explored further as a tool for early selection.